Giving a founder's hours back to growth

The challenge

The weekly routine was clear and dependable: stock, orders, inventory check, labelling, packing, invoicing, delivery. The problem was who did it. The stock list lived in a spreadsheet that nobody kept in step with the invoicing system, labels were made by hand and were the most error-prone task, and every invoice was handled and chased one by one. The founder's real goal, finding distributors in new countries, had no hours left.

“The blocker is making the right contacts and reaching decision-makers for distribution in target countries.”

How the assessment worked

1. 1

   Free assessment

   A ten-minute questionnaire gives the first readiness score and the top three opportunities.

2. 2

   Company profile and website

   A structured form on systems, team and costs, while Strados reads the company's website on its own.

3. 3

   Voice interview

   A guided conversation of about 25 minutes, in the owner's own language, on how the work really gets done.

4. 4

   Report, checked by a person

   Score, five opportunities with costs and returns, three quick wins and a 90-day plan. Reviewed by our team before it is sent.

What the report found

A score of 35 out of 100 puts the company in the Building tier, which for a two-person food maker is a fair and workable start, not a warning. Process maturity is already inside the industry range, and that is the platform everything else builds on. The gaps are technology and the fact that all non-production work rests on one person. The report read that as a matter of hours, not attitude: openness to change scored four out of five.

The solution, step by step

1. 01

   An AI assistant for admin, emails and distributor outreach

   Research and first drafts for distributor outreach, buyer replies and daily admin, so the evenings go back to growth.

   Impact HighEffort LowClaudePerplexity

   5–8

   hours a week freed
2. 02

   Stock connected to the invoicing system

   Stock updates itself after each sale, so changes are no longer retyped from a spreadsheet.

   Impact HighEffort MediumMakeMoloni

   3–5

   hours a week freed
3. 03

   Semi-automated product labels

   Labels produced from the product list and fixed templates, removing the most error-prone task of the week.

   Impact HighEffort LowCanvaMake

   3–4

   hours a week freed
4. 04

   A content engine for brand awareness in Portugal

   Regular posts and material for a product that is distinctive but still little known at home.

   Impact MediumEffort LowCanvaClaude

   4–6

   hours a week freed
5. 05

   Automated invoice follow-up

   Payment reminders that send themselves, so fewer payments slip and none are chased by hand.

   Impact MediumEffort MediumMakeMoloni

   2–4

   hours a week freed

Hours from the Strados Pro report, across the five parts of the solution. Projections, not measured results.

The first 30 days

• Set up Claude as the daily admin and outreach assistant
• Reusable Canva templates for labels and social posts
• One master inventory sheet as the single source of truth

The 90-day plan

1. Days 1–30

   Take the repetitive admin off the founder and clean up the stock list, with three distributor messages sent in the first month.

2. Days 31–60

   Connect the systems so stock and invoices stop needing hand-work, and payment reminders send automatically.

3. Days 61–90

   Measure the time saved and give at least half a day a week to distributor growth, with a written contact plan.

In their words